Given his well-built upper body, Jerrold Mangliwan, who was struck by polio at 2 years old, could easily be mistaken as a powerlifter, although he said he was once into wheelchair basketball and even tried sailing.

But Mangliwan found his specialty in wheelchair racing because “iba ang adrenaline rush dito (the adrenaline rush is different here),” according to the native of Tabuk town, the provincial capital of Kalinga province, in the mountains of Northern Luzon.

A mainstay of the national Paralympic team since 2005, he has indeed excelled in the fast and furious wheelchair races, bringing home a gold each in the 100 and 200-meter races and a silver in the 400 meters of the men’s T52 class of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games held in Singapore.

Mangliwan was left out in the ASEAN Para Games 2 years later after his category was virtually excluded in the edition of the meet held in Kuala Lumpur, but was back in harness in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta.

• Swimmer Ernie Gawilan enters Paralympics as Team PH’s most accomplished representative

With the T52 and T53 men’s categories combined, the 41-year-old wheelchair racer went home from the Indonesian capital with a bronze in the 800-meter race while finishing fourth in the 400 meters.

• Tokyo Paralympics to open under shadow of pandemic

Mangliwan and discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda are beneficiaries of the bipartite slots awarded by the International Paralympic Committee to compete at the World Paralympic Games opening on August 24 at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

He and the rest of the national para athletes were scheduled to compete at the ASEAN Para Games the country was supposed to host following the 2019 30th Southeast Asian Games but which was eventually scrapped as the sportsfest was overtaken by the COVID-19 Pandemic in the first quarter of 2020.

The previous year was truly tough for national para athletes like him, Mangliwan acknowledged, as they could not find a place to actually train due to the numerous restrictions and lockdowns enforced by the national government to curb the spread of the contagious and lethal virus last year.

They were also forced to vacate their official quarters at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City when government authorities converted the PhilSports Arena into a quarantine facility virtually throughout 2020.

Fortunately, with the go-signal and support of the Philippine Sports Commission plus the aid of Imus City Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi, Mangliwan and Aceveda trained for more than a month at Imus Sports Complex in their build-up to the World Para Games.

“Naging malaking tulong talaga sa amin ang PSC at si Mayor Maliksi para makapag-ensayo si Jerrold at Jeannette bago makapunta sa Tokyo. (The PSC and Mayor Maliksi were a big help to us so that Jerrold and Jeanette could train before leaving for Tokyo,” noted athletics head coach Joel Deriada.

• Paralympians hope to match output from Rio 2016

Besides being a member of the “lean and mean” 5-member Filipino squad, Mangliwan is also grateful that he was chosen by the Philippine Paralympic Committee (formerly the Philippine Sports Association for Differently Abled Athletes), led by president Mike Barredo, to be the country’s flag-bearer at the Paralympics opening.

• A medal not far-fetched for Pinoy Paralympians in Tokyo, says delegation head

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa pagtitiwala nila sa akin. Nakita nila ’yong pag-pupursige ko. ’Yong pagiging flag-bearer ay isang malaking oportunidad kaya proud ako na napili. (I am grateful for the trust the PPC has given me. They saw my diligence. To be the flag-bearer is a big opportunity so I am proud that I was chosen),” he said.

Deriada has penciled Mangliwan in the men’s T52 400, 100 and 1,500-meter races, and is banking on him to reach the final of the 400 meters, his first event scheduled August 27.

“Napag-aralan na namin ni coach Joel ’yong makakalaban sa 400 at nakita namin may malaking chance akong umabot ng finals. (I and coach Joel studied our rivals for the 400 and we saw that I had a big chance of reaching the finals),” Mangliwan pointed out.

The athlete, a communication arts graduate with a major in broadcasting at the Trinity University of Asia, is proud that his achievements as a national para athlete has taken him this far.

“Katulad ng iba na katulad ko, dapat huwag kaming tignan sa aming kapansanan kungdi sa amin kakayahan (People should not be looked at because of our disabilities, but at what we can achieve),” said Mangliwan, whose aspiration is to be a sportscaster.

• Paralympics gold medalist to get P5M from MVP foundation

Should he excel in Tokyo, not only sportscasters but an entire nation will be talking about the speedy Filipino wheelchair racer as well.

RELATED ARTICLE

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv